Etymology

income

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Today it means: Money one earns by working or by capitalising on the work of others. Full definition →

Middle English income ← Old English incyme
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The story

  1. Old English · inherited fromincyme“an in-coming, entrance”
  2. Middle English · inherited fromincome
  3. English todayincome

From Middle English income, perhaps continuing (in altered form) Old English incyme (“an in-coming, entrance”), equivalent to in- + come. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Íenkúumen (“income”), West Frisian ynkommen (“income”), Dutch inkomen, inkomst (“income, earnings, gainings”), German Low German Inkumst (“income”), German Einkommen, Einkunft (“income, earnings, competence”), Danish indkomst (“income”), Swedish inkomst (“income”), Icelandic innkváma (“income”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.